OFFENSIVE IN PACIFIC

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 22154, 28 September 1943, Page 3

OFFENSIVE IN PACIFIC

ALLIES CALLING THE TUNE (Received Sept. 28, 1 p.m.) MELBOURNE, Sept. 28 “The initiative has been taken from the Japanese and we are now calling the tune,” said General Sir Thomas Blarney on his arrival at an airport near Melbourne. “The campaign in New Guinea has gone very well and our losses have been very light. There has been a definite lowering of the morale of the Japanese since the fighting at Buna and Gona. It is obvious that the enemy has changed his opinion about his own invincibility. He has discovered that things are a little more difficult than he expected. The change has been brought about by our superior equipment, superior troops and superior air force and by our initiative. “Our troops are of outstanding quality. They have a high standard of morale and training. You just cannot hold them. This is one of the outstanding features of the whole New Guinea campaign. The co-oper-ation of the American Navy and Air Force with the Australian ground forces has been extraordinarily good. It is a happy association altogether. “The fighting in the Finschhafen area is a development of our successes at Salamaua and Lae. The fall of Finschhafen is only a matter of time.” General Blarney said that at present he thought Wewak was the strongest of the other Japanese bases in New Guinea. Very considerable Japanese reinforcements had just arrived at Wewak when the Allies struck recently and destroyed the bulk of them.